“Assured grounding” is the requirement for quarterly or monthly inspection of all electrical cords depending on company requirements. Quarterly safety checks are mandated by OSHA, but many companies impose monthly requirements on themselves. All construction sites, factories, plants, mines and maintenance facilities that use portable electrical cords and power tools are required to comply. These inspections require a colored marking on all extension cords, temporary power cords (commonly referred to as “spider boxes”), power tool cords, cord splitters, and lighting cords. The color assures the worker that the cord was tested for effective ground path and defects. A nationwide color standard has been adopted in the United States by construction companies, united trades, mining companies and maintenance facilities. Quarterly periods are indicated as follows:
QUARTERLY PERIODCOLOR INDICATORJanuary 1 through March 31WhiteApril 1 through June 30GreenJuly 1 through September 30RedOctober 1 through December 31Orange
For facilities choosing or required to do monthly inspections, each month also has a color code as follows:
MONTHCOLOR INDICATORJanuaryWhite & neutralFebruaryWhite & YellowMarchWhite & BlueAprilGreen & neutralMayGreen & YellowJuneGreen & BlueJulyRed & neutralAugustRed & YellowSeptemberRed & BlueOctoberOrange & neutralNovemberOrange & YellowDecemberOrange & Blue
The indication “neutral” means that either no color indicator is used, or a color such as gray or black is used, matching the color of the plastic assured grounding identifier.
The standard method for marking cords at this time is wrapping the ends of the cord with bands of colored electrical tape. Tape leaves a dirty and sticky residue on the cords and can be messy. Some workers remove the tape by cutting it off with a pocket knife or razor blade which often results in injury to the employee or damage to the cord. Workers are often reluctant to obtain the correct colored tape, remove the old tape and replace it with the proper tape markings after inspection. The process is time consuming. Moreover, tape is not reusable and is expensive over time. Presently known art attempts to address this problem, but has not completely solved the problem.
Additionally, it would be desirable to provide enhanced visibility for an assured grounding indicator by combining it with a power on indicator light. Electrical cords have been constructed with a small light, generally an LED, embedded into the cord or plug which is electrically connected to the cord conductors, so that the light is illuminated whenever power is applied to the cord. Thus, safety could be enhanced by providing positive indication that proper ground checks have been performed, without hindering the live-cord indicator. These features could be embedded within a cord-plug structure, or attachable to a built-up cord plug.
Thus, there is a need for apparatus and methods to provide a simple and rugged means for indicating that scheduled safety checks have been performed on electrical cords, which (1) complies with the current industry standards for color coding, (2) eliminates the hazards of cutting tape identifiers off cords, (3) eliminates the problem of adhesive residue on cords, (4) is simple to administer, (5) saves labor time, (6) is reusable such that it can be transferred from old cords to new cords or can be made inexpensively enough to be disposable when a cord is disposed of; and, (7) can be combined with a power applied indicator light to enhance visibility.